FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is concerned with a spherical cloth weaving machine suitable for weaving spherically shaped woven fabrics which constitute the core material for fabrication of a parabolic mirror to be used as a space communication antenna, a infrared ray telescope, the solar ray collecting system, and so forth.
DISCUSSION OF BACKGROUND
The spherically shaped woven fabrics as shown in FIG. 4 have conventionally been manufactured by cutting plain woven cloth in a circular form, laminating several sheets of the thus cut cloth, and shaping the lamination into a predetermined spherical shape. Since however, the plain woven cloth is in such a woven or weaving configuration as shown in FIG. 5 of the accompanying drawing, when it is shaped in a spherical form, there takes place elongation at its circular center part or slackening at the periphery thereof with simultaneous reduction in strength of the woven circular fabric in its circumferential direction other than the direction of fiber. As a consequence of this, the spherical or parabolic reflecting mirror manufactured from the plain woven cloth having such state of weaving is liable to be deformed in use, due to climate and temperature change, which has been the cause for deteriorating performance of the surface of the reflecting mirror.
At the time of its manufacture, such a conventional parabolic antenna or reflecting mirror is stretched at the center part and stretched at the peripheral part due to inhomogeneity of its structure in the circumferential direction and its shaping into a spherical shape, hence non-uniformity in strength and stress distribution of the spherical body as shaped; for example, there tends to easily occur deformation on the spherical surface to be used as the parabolic reflecting mirror, which renders it insufficient in performance as the reflecting surface and poor in its operating reliability.